Gelli Arts Video Class PLUS

Learn how to use a Gelli Arts gelatin plate in two master classes. Make paste paper using the new materials now available make. Paint an acrylic folk art painting and learn how to rescue the most acrylic paint abused brush. All of these classes are available NOW for your viewing pleasure for just $75.00 the original price of one class alone! Simply click the link below, pay and your passwords will be forwarded within 12-24 hrs; mostly sooner rather than later. Your teacher for these classes has over 40 years experience in the art field and will be available to answer the questions you may have. JOIN NOW!

A NEW YEAR A NEW HOME

Gelli Plate printing, Gelli Arts gel plate, mono printing, collage, stampmaking, brushes, learning, and fun...these were some of the subjects covered in artdemos.com during 2013. But now... Welcome to the new home of ArtDemos.com If you are visiting this blog for the first time let me say welcome! Check the FREEBIES page for a special offer on access to the classroom pages.

I've enjoyed the last fourteen months that I spent teaching on artdemos, my Ning network. Due to the rising costs of maintaining that community (approximately $100 for maintenance fees & advertising) I made the difficult decision to go into the New Year without the worry of those monthly fees. However, I have and will continue to have a Vimeo-Pro site to host all of my videos. You will continue to have access to your classrooms on Vimeo using the passwords that were sent to you prior to artdemos closing.

As many of you already know my husband suffered a debilitating stroke in April, 2013. The man I had depended on for 42 years was replaced by someone who needed more of my time and help. His stroke was a blow to us emotionally and physically but helped me to re-evaluate my life choices. I thought I could still maintain a large group of people and meet their needs just as I've done on the web since 1998. Admitting I could no longer do that has been difficult for me. But by moving to this new format I think I will be able to keep both promises...to my family and to my students.

I still welcome new students despite the change of venue. If you are interested in learning new ways to work with your Gelli Plate there are two workshops available called Art of the Gelli 1 & 2. I also have a classroom for taking care of hopelessly paint encrusted paint brushes...yes, they can be saved! There are other classes available and if you are interested in any one of these please contact me at artdemosdotcom@optonline.net and I will forward a PayPal invoice and send the passwords for immediate access to the classrooms.

Those of you who have expressed concern over my artistic angst be assured, I still suffer from it, but I have also gone back to my first and greatest artistic love, Photography. I anticipate spending the next 50 or so years creating and selling fine photo artistry prints. You can see a few of them right now in my Etsy shoppe:Photo Artistry Cafe.

Thank you all for your support of ArtDemos.com during 2012-13. It was a dream that I made happen and I will never regret having had the experience. Happy New Year and blessings to you all!
~Cat

It's been awhile...

Three and a half months since I last blogged. I have excuses and some of them are even good ones! I had to move my studio because my DD returned with her hubs so that they could save money for a home of their own. The move took the last half of February and ALL of March. They moved in on April 1st and on April 14th my DH suffered a stroke. It was a clot on his brain stem and it caused some damage that may or may not resolve itself. He is still partially paralyzed on the right side (he's a righty) and unable to do a lot of things he would normally be doing on a daily basis. BUT...that does not mean that life is sad or even hopeless. I am grateful for each little victory that he has achieved and thankful that my DD and her beloved were with me the day it happened.

I am in the midst of re-discovering my painting style. Took a BIG detour via online classes with Mindy Lacefield, Juliette Crane, Jane Davenport, Carla Sonheim, Christy Tomlinson & Tamara LaPorte. But the detour finally took me full circle and showed me what I DID love to paint so as the saying goes...'it's all good'. I hope to get back into blogging on a weekly basis. And sharing some of the things that I learned during my artistic detour. The biggest one being how to use a Gelli Plate! Hope you'll stick around or join me if you haven't already because I plan to offer giveaways & links to online vids that you may find helpful.

Technique Tuesday on ArtDemos.com

If you haven't joined ArtDemos yet, you might want to today. Because TODAY is Technique Tuesday and today I'm sharing how to make your own stay-wet palette for your acrylic paints. I've bought 3 stay wets over the years and they've never worked as well as the one I'll show you how to make today.
Be sure to pop over and see it on ArtDemos

Just One of THOSE days

Some days are like handling a whole lot of Grumpy!

Waiting

So here at the Jersey Shore we're still talking about superstorm Sandy, the once in a hundred years storm, as if it just happened last week. We probably always will. It's a storm that no one else has ever experienced...the perfect storm...the storm that left the shore in splinters & sand. Now we wait once again for the snow storm that may or may not be. The only clear prediction is that it will slam into New England but it could/might miss The Shore. After the disastrous snow storm that followed Sandy we are all a bit on edge. After all...no one expected a non-hurricane to destroy miles and miles and miles of beachfront. To leave tens of thousands of people homeless. To make Mother Ocean inaccessible. So we wait...

Fortunately for me waiting isn't without its rewards. I busy myself sketching and painting and video taping new demonstrations for Art Demos, my online workshop site. I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love, make money doing it and teach hundreds of people how to express their creative spirits. There are so many ideas whirling around in my brain that sometimes I wake up in the morning with a totally new idea of what to teach and how to teach it. When I was young my Daddy's mantra was...find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life. Daddy's gone now but his words of wisdom linger because he's right. When I realized that when Dad left this earth, an entire library burned. He took with him all of the knowledge and skills and stories and wisdom that had colored my world for almost 50 years. As I approach my 'golden years' I too realize that if I don't pass along all of the knowledge that I've gained over the years that I too will be taking a 'library' with me. So for right now, in this place I choose to pass along all of the 'secrets' I've learned over the years. All of the special 'I do it this way' skills that over 40 years as a professional artist has taught me.

The next time YOU think there is nothing special about you...stop and think of all of the things you have learned thus far and be sure to show someone how to do it 'your way'. If you are interested in creatively expressing yourself, join a community of like minded people. Within just the past week over 50 people have joined the membership rolls of Art Demos and are enthusiastically cheering me on to teach more things. Thanks to everyone who is there on ArtDemos...it is a pleasure to be your creative guide! ~Cat

What did I DO???

I'm always amazed when something I do without thinking brings unexpected good/bad results. So when my son asked me what did I do early this morning that caused ten new sign-ups to ArtDemos I had to stop and think. What did I do??? So in order these are the things I did:
1. Stumbled from bed and checked myFacebook account.
2. Uploaded a new art journaling rant to my YouTube Channel.
3. Posted to my favorite group on FB Magically Mixed Art Community.
4. Posted my YouTube vid to my own Ning groupArtDemos.
5. Joined an ACEO swap on Tam LaPorte's Willowing Group.
6. Screamed nasty words when our electric went off this morning for 4 minutes.
7. Posted links to my newest class Bunny & Valentine.
8. Painted more pictures!!

9. Did my mother's PT test as I do every Tuesday.
10. Bought two candy bars. My favorite Dove Dark Chocolate and a Snickers with Almonds.

So which of the preceding brought so many new members to Art Demos? I'd say it's a toss-up but my favorite part of the morning was eating my Dove Dark Chocolate!!

Newest Class Up & Registration is OPEN!!

I just added my newest classroom "Bunny & Valentine". It's a self-guided workshop on painting two mini folk art canvasses using a very unique and NEW (at least to me) technique. Using a palette knife or old credit card & white paint & pigments I'm able to create beautiful blended backgrounds easily. If you're looking for a way out of your winter doldrums join ArtDemos and learn something new. You're invited to attend in your jammies with hot chocolate in hand. @Cat Sadowski will be your instructor!

Calling All ARTISTS/CRAFTERS

If you need to ramp up your Muse; learn something new; find creative friends; join a creative community, then you need to join ArtDemos.com There is no registration fee to join this new Ning network and the spirit of community is developing with each new member.
14 years ago this month I started a polymer clay community online. It's still alive and well even tho I am no longer the 'list Mom'. I NEED to find that sense of community once again and so I'm hosting this new and exciting group. Join us as we begin a journey into our creative selves.

Lucky Number 13

Thirteen years ago my son set up a website for me called artdemos.com Every once in awhile he'd ask me when I planned to start teaching online classes. I always had an excuse to give him. After awhile I stopped even thinking about it and he stopped asking. Two weeks ago there was an unexpected convergence of the stars and everything fell in to place for me to finally start teaching. When I mentioned it to my son he said "Good Art Demos is ready for you. I've renewed it every year on my birthday". Thirteen years is a long time to keep believing in someone, especially someone who doesn't believe in herself. But it's finally time. I hope you'll join me as I set foot on this amazing journey of learning.

On October 8th my father would have turned 90. The old saying of "when a person dies, a library burns" is something I hope never to be attributed to me. I want to reach out and touch everyone who wants to learn something new. To grow as a creative soul and connect with others of similar interests. So Daddy, this one's for you. You showed me that sometimes we don't have all the time in the world and the time to do something is NOW!

ArtDemos.com a Place to Learn and PLAY

At my age most of my peers are winding down their life. They're retiring, spending time with grandchildren, just kicking back and enjoying the ride. Me? I'm just cranking up my life. Getting ready to open a site I registered 13 years ago to teach arts & crafts on line. When I registered ArtDemos.com all those years ago I had the idea but not the technology to make my dream come true. In today's world, the technology is here and I am ready!

And so...Daddy (Walter A. Brown 1922-1998) this one's for you. When you passed, you took a library of learning with you. I don't want to do that. I want to empty out my brain, teach all that the last 63 years have taught me and give everyone I touch moments of joyful play.

Having Fun is Hard to Do

As a formally trained painter I have never worked so hard at painting. Not saying it's not fun but allowing myself the freedom to open up to mistakes and wrong lines is hard work. I was raised by a spinster Aunt who believed in perfection. For all the love she gave me I got an equal measure of how to be perfect so Mommy & Daddy and God would love ME. I loved HER with all the devotion that an infant through pre-teen can muster. I tried very, very hard to be very, very good. That included staying inside the lines and choosing the right colors and taking very, very good care of my art tools...i.e. crayons...after coloring the box was kept closed, all crayons in place.

I remember that each Christmas brought me something artsy. In fact, my very first toy was a set of crayons and a wonderful book to color in. The secret joy of the Crayola smell and the fresh, uncolored page is still a vivid and fond memory of mine. What is NOT so fond to remember is the strictness of the rules of those toys. Don't waste paper, put your crayons back in the box and don't get anything on your hands. Of course that last reminder came with my first set of watercolor paints...oh the joy of that metal box and all of those little squares of color...96 colors and a brand new brush. The joy that memory gives me is balanced by the sadness that those paints remained untouched through all the years I lived at home. I was terrified to mess them up!

As soon as it became apparent that my ability went beyond a child's artistic playfulness the lessons began. What a delight to be able to paint so that each fold in my painting looked like it could be unfolded. The lines just so; the blending perfect...the hands clean and at the end of the long oil brush. Sit up straight, hold your brush just so and create a masterpiece.

In the 50's & 60's it was not about building a child's self-esteem. It was about perfecting the child. So while I loved being creative and painting, sewing and designing I went about each act with the knowledge that making mistakes was not acceptable. Having fun was in the creative act. Coloring outside the lines was a disgrace. Coloring someone green was unheard of and of course, unacceptable. How I managed to continue creating with all of my now, self-imposed rules, is a miracle. But create I did in everything I did I was as perfect as possible.

Fast forward decades and the now 55 yro child/woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and given a 40% chance of survival. Does she do it perfectly...being the good patient and following all the rules? HELL NO!! By the time some one had given me an expiration deadline I was so rip roaring mad that I basically told them all to go to hell and I would just go about my life ignoring any pain or illness. And for the first time I noticed that my art started to get playful.

During those months of chemo the recurring theme throughout my art was of Women with wings missing hands but dressed in colorful collaged dresses. And I discovered that on eBay there was a group of artists painting small like I was in what was then called 'art cards' and later ACEOs. 2.5 x 3.5 watercolor paper cards that I sold sometimes for prices that astounded me. Once again I slipped back into the perfectness of my art because I was now selling to collectors who expected a certain 'look'. For 6 years I painted as only I could with each line just so, color balanced to perfection and boring as hell to my creative child who had come out to play for such a short while.

Then one day I saw a blog post about a woman who painted so freely it looked like art from a talented 7 year old child. Such joy, such total freedom and such an impossible task for me to emulate. I bought the Somerset magazine that featured her on the cover and reveled in her unique and began to look for her art on line. On Etsy I saw her rapidly collecting fans and I could only sigh and wish that I could be so popular with my now staid line of digitally altered photographs. I signed up for her emails and every once in awhile one would come along announcing something that would make me wish I could paint like she did.

The day the email announced a star bunny class I decided it was time to be a rebel and act like a 7 yro child. Something I had missed the first time around. I signed up for that first class and found out that being free had a price. For me it meant cutting off my beautifully manicured nails and filing them down to stubs so I could use my fingers to paint. It meant switching the brush from my trained right hand to my non-dominant left hand so that I could create a free and loose looking drawing...but more than anything it meant facing my biggest fear...the fear of not being perfect.

I've only been fighting this battle for a few days as I completed the star bunny class and moved on to her PYS (Paint Your Story) class but it's still a gut wrenching feeling. I AM AFRAID to let loose and have fun. So every day I have to promise myself that it will be ok to make mistakes and that the echo of my Aunt's voice telling me to be careful has to be silenced once and for all. I NEED to do this for me. I NEED to have FUN with my art. Otherwise it will continue to be what it has always been over the last 40 years...just a JOB. I want it to be a mystical experience...a movement of hand on paper without thought as to where the color should go. That painting green on a person's face is the RIGHT thing to do. That maybe, this time, I will finally be able to let loose and just BE!

This is the first of my Happy Paintings...finger painted and left hand drawn.

Vintage Halloween by Frances Brundage

I'm always amazed when I discover a new vintage postcard image. One of my favorite artists from that era was Frances Brundage. She was a prolific artist and her Halloween images just blow me away. I have a lot of these images done in my 1" pendant/charms...celebrating this FUN holiday and her unique talent. You can see them in my eBay store

Here's a preview of my favorite one!

Housecleaning 101

It's Fall...It's Time to Clean Up The House.  I just signed up to be part of a group doing exactly that! Wish me luck...I'll need that plus rubber gloves, garbage bags...............

Texture Tuesday & a Perfect Summer Day

Long hot summer at the Jersey Shore.  I've been trapped in my bedroom by my window air conditioner for months because our central air died years ago.  The jeep I drive also has no air but living down the Jersey Shore makes it easy to escape the heat and soak up a little sea breezes in the evening.  The picture below is from an impromptu drive through Belmar and up over the ocean bridge connecting it and Avon-by-the-Sea .  

As I crossed the bridge I saw the beach and the inlet as the sun started slipping down in the west.  I couldn't resist!  I had DH pull over briefly on the other side of the bridge, grabbed my little point & shoot and started hiking back over the bridge snapping along the way.  The natives and tourists were out in force and these folks wanted to be on candid camera so I obliged!

This piece is for "Texture Tuesday".  An informal show and tell at Kim Klassen's Cafe.  The assignment was to use a photograph of "looking down"... I couldn't find a better photograph than this one of happy folks ending a day on the sea.

This was done using my photograph with Kim's Dream It texture.  The blending mode was Linear Light at 32% and the font Papyrus set at 79% opacity.  Life is everywhere you look whether it's up or down so Celebrate it!

Two Weeks

Two weeks from today...my DD wedding. Last minute things to do so I don't know when I'll be posting again. After 14 months I've lost most of my readers anyway :) Congratulations to my BFF, Pam on the birth of a grandson last evening. It seems like yesterday I was the one getting married and populating the world. How quickly time moves by us all...that faint breeze you feel?...it's your life passing you by. Get up and do something with it before it's too late!

Polyvore Contest - Lemon & Lime Dolls

Doll.png for Lemons & Limes Contest

Dolls Hat.png

The countdown is on!

Just 16 days left until the wedding. The pressure is on with the whole family. Dieting has reached a feverish pace as everyone tries to lost those last 5 lbs. they've been sporting for years. Why do we drive ourselves to perfection for a wedding? Why can't we just show up in flip flops and flowered shirts and get them hitched? Instead we spends thousands of dollars, squeeZe ourselves into girdles and cummerbunds to look good for people we probably won't see again for years. I'm not stressed out...no, not me. I'm releasing all of my tensions by playing on Polyvore. I wanted to let you have a mini experience of the site so I've uploaded a wee taste for y'all to play with. Enjoy styling!

Illustrations for Polyvore

First illustrations for use on Polyvore